Burglars’ new trick threatens millions of home
Exclusive
By Bruce Smith

MILLIONS of homes across Britain are at risk from burglary because of a design weakness in a door cylinder lock.

A bold method of using a simple tool to smash the Europrofile design cylinder, which often controls sophisticated locking systems on double glazed doors, is being increasingly used by raiders in the last two years.

Burglars are able to smash the cylinder and then remove it.

Now a race against time is going on between lock makers to produce alternative or upgraded systems to foil the raiders. One leading manufacturer has a replacement cylinder it hopes to market later this year.

A huge proportion of British homes have at least one Europrofile cylinder lock.
West Yorkshire Police have been a leading force in urging the lock industry to develop upgraded mechanism to prevent thieves from foiling the locks.

Versions of the Europrofile design are produced under licence by most of the leading lock manufacturers including prestigious makers such as the Assa Abloy group which includes the Yale, Chubb and Union ranges.

Many of the locks operate security systems such as hook-locks and dead bolts which have helped cut burglaries.

But this new burglary technique now threatens to undermine security, potentially posing a similar threat to the old “brace and bit burglary” technique.

“There is not going to be just one ‘fix all’ solution,” said an experienced security expert.
A spokesman for Yale, Chubb and Union said the only way to completely stop such cylinders being smashed would be to make them of titanium – one of the hardest known metals – but because of the cost implications that was never going to happen.
But sister company Mul-t-lock has been working on a new cylinder which is designed
to still snap cleanly when attacked, but to remain within the lock to prevent the door being opened, said the spokesman.

The cost of the new cylinder is expected to be significantly higher than the old style.
Other companies are believed to be working on beefing up the handle faceplates of their locks to prevent the cylinder being attacked and damaged, though such protection may have its limits.

Det Insp John Minary, West Yorkshire Police’s Chief Crime Reduction Officer,said: “We have been taking positive action with the double glazing industry for some time now to try and resolve this problem. Your local crime reduction officer can also offer advice on how to make your home more secure and can be contacted on 0845 6060606.”
The Association of Chief Police Officers is understood to be involved in the process of trying to overcome the flaw in the lock design.[email protected]

On October 1st we will be celebrating the start of our twentieth year of trading and are now the longest established Supplier of Quality Windows doors and Conservatories in Barry.
In all this time we have yet to have an attempted break in of this type. In Fact to our Knowledge no one has successfully forced open any of our door or windows in the last 12 years.
However due to the media attention this information is now readily available and it is our duty as a quality company to inform you. Due to our huge customer database it is inevitable that some of our doors will be attacked in the future.

See our Mul-T-Lock advert below for prices

Each Door Cylinder unit is supplied with two Keys plus a Coded Key Card.

Increased Security

The high security coded card supplied with the lock must be kept safe in order to cut new keys.
If a key is lost, a new one can only be cut on presentation of the coded key card.

Other benefits

* You can have other locks keyed alike to use the same key. This reduces the amount of keys carried.
* Master keying is also available for Flats, Schools and Business Premises etc.
* You can also have the normal Yale type lock to match.
* High security padlocks are available once again all working using the same key.

OUR OFFER

Fitting for the following areas
Barry – £30 for the first cylinder and £20 for each thereafter.
Rhoose, Llantwit Major, Penarth and Dinas Powis – £40 for the first cylinder and £20 each.
Cardiff, Llantriscant – £45 for the first cylinder and £20 each.

Doors originally fitted by WWS locally, will be fitted at a reduced cost of £50 per cylinder.
For maximum efficiency these cylinders must be correctly measured and fitted by professionals installers.

Located in the fabric of the door the ArmourShield device shroud’s the locking cylinder and protects it from attack from crowbars and large screw drivers!

If the handle is forcibly removed from the exterior of the door the ArmourShield helps prevent the potential intruder from snapping the locking cylinder and gaming entry to the property.

When fitted the ArmourShield is completely concealed within the base plate of the handle.

Can be fitted to new and existing doors. For door routing details see reverse.

Two sizes available depending on door thickness.1611488 Armourshield (Ext cyl.<45mm) for doors where the cylinder measures less than 45mm to the outside (measured from the centre line.) i.e. would be used on a cylinder size 35/35.1611490 Armourshield (Ext cyl.>46mm) for doors where the cylinder measures more than 46mm to the outside (measured from the centre line). i.e would be used on a cylinder size 35/50.

For optimum performance tighten the M5 x 8mm grub screw. (Note: If using a thumbturn cylinder on some PVCu profiles it will be necessary to increase the length of the cylinder on the inside by 10mm, to allow access to the grub screw).